Julie's Musings | Julie Saffrin

Traveling by Townie on Minnesota’s Central Lakes Trail

September 16, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • 3 Comments

townieatthetunnel | http://juliesafffrin.com

For our 34th anniversary, Rick bought me an Electra Townie bike. No, it is not the same as my recently stolen red Schwinn LeTour, a bike cherished since the day I bought it in 1976. The Townie does not have 10 speeds, it has seven. It does not have pedal cages and thin tires. It’s a bike meant for town riding. It’s wonderful on the back and the seat is marvelous. The handlebars feel like leather. I am in love. On our way to our lake home on Dead Lake on September 12, Rick and I found an old railway…

Bridal Shower ideas

September 8, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

twoarebetterthanone | https://juliesaffrin.com

2013. For me, it’s the year of engagements, bridal showers and weddings. This summer I was given the privilege of co-hosting a bridal shower for my new niece-in-law Rachel (Vogt) Lee. Each of us had contributed our own talents to put this lovely day together. We also had the privilege of the design and decorating team of two sisters, Becky Hammill Berg and Lynn Hammill Rhinevault who turned boring space into a magical, time-set-apart space for the bridal shower. These women came with plastic bins and boxes bursting with greens, tulle, tea lights, branches, chalkboard-painted cardboard and repurposed things. They…

Thank you for . . .

August 26, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

Madeline Farni's thank you note | www.juliesaffrin.com

Awhile back, I asked Madeline Farni to create a collage postcard – something creative that she would send to someone to thank them. She was 17 when she created this beautiful piece. I think it perfectly captures the essence of a BlessBack. Isn’t she talented? As some of you who’ve read my book BlessBack know, I keep postcards. My friends have sent me postcards to places I’ll never have the chance to go to – India, Pisa, Japan and beyond. I love to experience travel through their eyes and hear their stories of different cultures and places they’ve visited. Today,…

Sale!

August 21, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

blessbackcuffbracelet | juliesaffrin.com

Red. It’s a hot color for fall 2013. So, just because . . . . . . red is the color of cardinals, strawberries and my new favorite wine, Apothic Red . . . red is the splash of color to add to your wardrobe this fall . . . you might not be able to afford an airplane ride to Switzerland to see what its army does with all those red knives . . . you might be a bit teary-eyed sending that son or daughter off to school (Don’t worry. They come back.) . . . you might…

To-Day

August 2, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

To-Day I know of two newscasters, one on broadcast television and on the other on cable, who end their on-air segments with the phrase “On This Day,” then recap what has happened in years past “on this day.” I love to discover a word’s origins. The word, “today” comes to us in Old English as todӕge, or to dӕge meaning “on (the) day.” “To” and “day” were separate words until the early 1900s. In German, we get *hiu tagu “on (this) day,” with Latin’s influence of “on this side.” When I think of the Latin combination of words to describe today, I…

People Need a Place to Share and Remember

July 9, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • 26 Comments

Today’s guest post is written by Alice J. Wisler, author and grief workshop facilitator. Her book, Getting Out of Bed in the Morning, a grief and loss devotional is a top seller on Kindle. Today her post is about her current release, Memories Around the Table, a cookbook Alice compiled of recipes and stories based on contributors’ memories of loved ones who have passed. The cookbook is getting rave reviews! After reading this post, please leave a comment about your favorite recipe handed down to you from a favorite person who has passed away. Alice will randomly draw a name from the…

A Perfect Summer Night

July 3, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

The back of my book BlessBack®: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life says that you can find me in summer in Ottertail county on my Adirondack chair. It’s true. My current favorite Adirondack chair came from a man in Ottertail. He passed away two years ago. My husband and I happened to be gallivanting and spied his family’s garage sale filled with this man’s amazing talent with woodworking. It was June and Rick bought two chairs for my birthday. I love these chairs. They remind me of my dad and what he could have made in his retirement years had…

Water fireworks

July 1, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

This Independence Day will mark the third time we have participated in the annual Dead Lake Fourth of July parade. I prefer to call it water fireworks. And it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s the funnest day. Boats of every kind line up at the beginning of North Bay. For an hour, we cruise along the shore in our pontoon decorated for the day. And prepare ourselves for attack. For dock wars. Dock after dock is lined with children, fingers at the ready on their super soaker squirt guns to drench us. We’re ready too. Stowed aboard are…

Little Things

June 1, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • 6 Comments

Little Things It’s been said that a turtle cannot move unless it sticks its neck out. Yet sometimes, with our necks out, we’ve tried to make headway, only to find we’ve made circles in the sand. I wouldn’t call myself a computer expert by any stretch of the imagination, but on two separate occasions in one day last week, two friends were overwhelmed by their tasks at hand. They had tried countless times to figure out their computer problems, but with no success, they were on the verge of exasperation. “I’d be so grateful if you could just stop over…

When a Viking and a Packer fan fell in love

January 5, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • 3 Comments

Today’s blog post about Carol Zimmerman’s lighthearted song about the Viking-Packer border wars in her home was originally published in the February 8, 2001 edition of the Minnesota Christian Chronicle. I chose to re-release this story today on behalf of those of us with border warring between Minnesota and Wisconsin NFL football fans. When the Vikes and Packers play, I’m always a bit conflicted. I was born in Wisconsin but moved to Minnesota at the age of 4. I grew up a Fran Tarkenton’s throw from the Met Stadium. I hope you enjoy this story. Carol is a friend of mine and…

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